Bowie's Young Americans blind listening test

Unfortunately I missed the blind test but lately, if it counts, I'd also choose C but also love B as well for some strange reason. But as you said, it is a different mix.

With that said, just compared the few different releases of the excellent 'Who Can I Be Now' outtake which would be also worth testing.

 

But it's not expensive! It must suck!

Nah, just kidding. I can't blanket insult the people who are basically my only friends.

Except haha, I spent less money than you guys

 

I hear ya.
The RCA's seem to be the most relaxed by far. I'm glad I've been able to get rips of the ones I didn't get, but need to find the time to compare them to my '1991' EMI's (which sound different to the RCA's, but have EQ settings to my liking).

 

In the Pink Floyd blind listening tests some surprising results were found. Not here, although it's kind of surprising that the Japanese RCA didn't get much love.

I voted for the West German RCA, and this motives me to keep searching and find one for a reasonable price.

Thanks for the test! I know it's much work, but it's highly appreciated!

 

Looking forward to the next one!

 

I am the lone person who picked this one. I didn't hear boosted anything. I did hear a 3-D presence. That's why I picked it.

 

You often seem to like a more "modern" sound, so no worries, I would say.

 

I voted for G, I usually prefer detail over relaxed sound when I listen through headphones at low or medium volumes. It's probably I would vote for A or C cranking up my monitors. Volume level is a factor.

I like drums or voice simple passages to choose between two editions, I think it's easier to feel the air and richness of the sound. The other suggestions you posted are ok with me.

Count on me for the next blind test!

 

Not usually. I just like a more 3-D sound. It probably comes from playing in a band instead of being in front of it.

 

I do like a 3 dimensional soundstage too, but I couldn't get through the mastering of B at all. Strange how we all like different things. But great there's a mastering out there for all of us.

PS. I play in a band too, but I hope never to hear on a recording what I hear on stage.

 

Well, turns out mine is actually the Japanese RCA, as it's missing the first two beats. I haven't played the actual CD's in years, but ripped all my discs at the time. I did make some notes, but this rip just said "RCA", so I wasn't sure which version I had, and didn't really follow the Bowie CD threads too closely after I got them. Unfortunate about the missing snare hits. I guess I could try and edit them on from the RCA Changes One and make a new version. Anyway, at least I have the digital version I thought sounded best out of the bunch. Thanks again to the OP. Looking forward to the next one.

 

What a shock, most listeners prefer the early RCA masterings. This isn't a surprising result. A word of caution on adding more and more distinct masterings to these listening tests. Listener fatigue is a real thing that often mucks up double-blind audio trials. Seven different masterings may be too much for one song before it starts influencing the results.

 

I was quite satisfied with most of the samples, except for G, which I thought was bad. My ears didn't fail me, because I have always disliked the 1999 remasters.
My vote went with the 1991 Ryko, which I don't have.

 

Sometimes it happens faster than expected. I bought the German RCA Young Americans today on Discogs.

 

The general consensus on the Parlophone threads is that there’s no need to track an original RCA anymore. Still, 3 persons out of 4 prefered an original RCA here. I do think that’s interesting, because the RCAs were sometimes accused of being “sourced from cassette masters” and all.

I do agree that the Parlophone are still a big improvement over the Ryko/EMI, they’re affordable and easy to find, and, well they’re probably good enough for most people. Some Parlophones shine better than others, too.

I don’t think this thread is just about who wins, it’s also about who doesn’t lose. Some people will not want to buy an RCA, and this could help them finding the second best, or knowing if the difference is that big, album per album. It can also help people find their favourite master and/or save them money.

So let’s find your favourite master, but I’ve removed half of them because bias is fine, you know.

A fine balance needs to be found between being exhaustive and not being too long, of course. I’m trying to do my best, but what’s the point of easy results if they have zero final meaning? Why compare anything if we don’t compare them all? What’s the purpose? If you don’t have the time, fine don’t vote. For some other albums it’s going to be to be quicker because they have few masters. Young Americans is quite extreme here in its number of options, and that was interesting! Of course what’s even easier is complaining just for the sake of it.

There are the people who always complain (and never ever say anything nice, because they just always know better), and those who actually do something. So I’ll wait for you to do a better test for Ziggy, thank you very much! I’m sure you’re really going to do it! Please do!

(I do like the other comments people have made. But I can’t stand the easiness of this "your test is crap" tone.)

I’m happy this test has helped you! Fortunately, Young Americans is one of the cheapest RCAs. Had my JPN for $18, cover was a bit damaged and CD not in perfect shape, but EAC was happy with and so was I!

 

Hi Tsomi

I've just stumbled across this test as well, bummer but looking forward to the next ones.

A few observations. The two RCA winners is quite a clear cut, albeit not unexpected result. I agree that it is a pity that not more members participate in these tests, often those with the most vocal opinions are missing in action. A bigger issue though is that most that would or could participate would not know the test is on. Short of having a mod agree to have the test as a sticky while it is running, I'm not sure how the visibility can be improved. @grandegi who has run similar tests for led zep and pink Floyd may have some ideas, such as letting participants of previous listening tests know about current ones.

Lastly, apart from a decent sample size, for test validity participants should do the test before reading the comments as the idea of these tests is to controll perceptions based on personal biases and expectations. No need to feel ashamed about picking the wrong one as there is no wrong one, we all perceive sound a bit differently and listen on different equipment in different acoustic environments.

Sorry for the rambling...

 

I liked A the best overall.

 

I think the bad download link in post #1 and Google Drive’s poor UI made me lose a bit of votes as well.

But I agree that it’s mostly a matter of bad visibility. I have problems with this huge “Music Corner” category where everything happens. It’s not well-categorized if almost everything is posted in a single category.

We need categories for blind-tests, and/or categories per major artists or genres. Also, Sgt. Pepper and Pet Sounds deserve a damn category on their own, it never stops .

No, that’s not rambling, these are some very good remarks, thanks!

Yes, I will stress this in the first post of the next thread. But I can’t do much if people really want to see the existing votes . A “you can’t see the replies to this thread if you haven’t voted yet” option would be perfect to avoid bias, but at the moment I can only ask people to play the game nicely...

 

You know...perhaps a better way would be that the participants need to PM you to
cast their vote. Then you reveal the results at a specified date/time. These polls are nice...and fun, but they give away too much in these blind listening tests. As mentioned here, people might have been swayed not only by the conversation, but by seeing the poll results.

 

You shouldn't over-regulate these polls. People who want to listen unbiased will do so anyway. Let the others be.

 

Yeah, I agree with both of you. Asking for PMs is a nice idea and would be theoretically better, but it'd be quite a hassle and I prefer something simple for everyone. A big majority of the voters try to vote fairly, I believe.

 

First of all, sorry that I missed this one. I had some personal issues that kept me far from internet in the past few weeks.
Regarding the visibility, in the second half of the period I usually send private messages to folks that I know would be interested, (e.g. they participated in other tests) discarding members who already chimed in, in order to inform them that the test is running; this method is time consuming but it works; we reached 50-60 voters for some of Led Zeppelin tests. Another solution is tagging the members who will be sure interested in the test in the first post. I prefer the former method as in the latter folks will be informed at the beginning of the test and might forget about it.

 

Voted C by the way (before checking the revealed sources). Simply the most balanced and natural sounding on my system

 

...... and "Don't Cheat".

Just noticed this in the comments tag of the files when I went to delete the files. Well placed and appropriately subtle.

 

Just had a chance to do a more thorough comparison between the three RCAs thanks to karmaman
I voted F, JPN/JPN, and while it's very good, the WG just is that tad more natural or relaxed sounding imo.

Changed my vote to A